We all fall down.

 

 

  

Matthew 11:28-30

 Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find much rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.

 

 

 

I wrote a little blog the other day...

the one where I pretty much laid out my heart on the table for all to see.

 

I had my doubts, like I often do,

on the kind of response an honest blog like that would receive.

 

But, as I also often do,

I prayed.

 

I prayed that God would have His will with the post.

I prayed that He would send it to whoever needed to read it and go with it to cover them with His love in their time of need or suffering.

That it would bless someone.

Even only one.

 

I've been so overwhelmed with the positive responses from this blog post.

 

I have received emails, phone calls, text messages, facebook comments and private messages, and even my one very special comment here on the blog itself.

(I don't get many of those, but when I do...they mean the world to me!)

Several people even shared the post on their facebook wall and pinterest board.

"People bond more deeply over shared brokenness than they do over shared beliefs."
~Heather Kopp

 

I'm not at all giving myself credit here.

This was not me.

To be perfectly honest...

it was hard to pick myself up the other day.

Only by His grace was I able to get off the floor of despair.

 

This is all God's doing.

 

When I was in the midst of all of that hurt the other day,

 feeling beaten and knocked down emotionally,

I had one of two choices...

 

1. give up

or

2. keep moving

 

That's it.

I chose to keep moving forward because I heard God whispering in my ear to do so.

But, part of me didn't see an end to the mess.

 

 I prayed and pleaded with Him,

 

"Even though I am hurting God, and this situation is a huge mess,

I know that Your goodness will shine through. I know that you can turn this around for Your good. Take this cup Lord, because I can not do this without You."

 

When I began to receive all of the messages from friends and people I barely know,

I realized God was definitely working things out for His good.

He was doing exactly what I prayed for...
sending the post out to those who needed it and turning my mess into something beautiful.
He was touching their hearts as they read it.

He was turning my hurt around and using it to bless someone else.

Bringing beauty up out of the ashes of my despair.

I can't tell you how humbled I was by this.

 

It also showed me one very important thing...

 

we all fall down.

 

Most of the responses were from someone who was going through something similar that I was,

and desperately needed words of encouragement.

 

They didn't need to know the details of my situation either.

They just needed to know that someone feels the same way they do from time to time.

That someone else out there falls down from the blunt unexpected hit of life.

That when they get knocked down, there is hope of rising up.

 

They needed to know that we all fall down and need God.

 

One of my dearest friends filled up my facebook message box with encouraging scriptures.

(You know who you are...I love you!)

 

This one really spoke to me...

 

Hebrews 13:5-6 “

… God has said, ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’”

 

He will never leave me.

He will never leave you.

 

He is our Helper.

The One whom we must scream out "Help!" to.

It is then that we hear His whisper,

"I haven't left you. I'm here, keep moving.  I will never leave you."

 

And sometimes,

He sends that help in the form of a person, a friend with an encouraging Word,

a hand to lift you up when you are down and the promise of Hope.

 

That is where God's grace is multiplied,

when we offer it to one another in love and encouragement.

 

And the enemy,

the one that thinks he's so slick...

will use another one of his old tricks to make you think that you are better off alone in your pain,

or that you can't help that person who needs to hear what your heart has to say to bring hope.

 

His plan is to break up the very thing God came to give us...

relationship.

Hope in Christ alone.

Intimacy with Him and one another.

 

 

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

It’s better to have a partner than go it alone.
Share the work, share the wealth.
And if one falls down, the other helps,
But if there’s no one to help, tough!

 Two in a bed warm each other.
Alone, you shiver all night.

 By yourself you’re unprotected.
With a friend you can face the worst.
Can you round up a third?
A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.

 

 

I found this yesterday on a blog I read,  and it also blessed me.  

It reminded me of how God has placed us all here together.

To fight the good fight!

 Side by side, arm in arm, hands clinched.

 

You don't pass by the fallen.

Don't pass by the fallen.
The Spirit that rose Him from the dead ...is in you... so you fall back.
You stop and you gather the workers.
You come alongside and you encourage the broken down...

You hold the space.
You make the call.
You bring the meal.
You hold the hand.
You smile sincere.
You pray the prayers they can't.

You pray the prayers they can't.
You hold up what can't stand any longer.
Because He loves relationship... and He often brings you as the Provision for someone else.
He brought you here.
It is all about something so much bigger than you... than them...
You push your shoulder into that space... and you hold it for them...so they can breathe.
~~A Seed Inspired

 

 

I am so thankful for each and every one of you and the sweet messages you have taken the time to send me over the past few days.

 

What a sweet reminder it was to me that we all fall down.

  

And when we do,

  God is there to pick us up.

  

Jonah 2:2

He said: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry."



The perfect Friend.

Let’s be women who no longer compare and compete, but celebrate and complete our friendships…with the unique offering we bring.
~~Renee Swope

I've been blessed in my life with many friends.

Some are constant, some are seasonal, and some are new.

I know the importance of friends.
How their love and closeness can wrap you up in a warm blanket when it seems the cold world is engulfing you.
How the giving and receiving of ones self within the friendship can nourish your soul.


Jesus Himself had friends around Him most of the time,
even though He was the perfect entity of a relationship within Himself.
He knew the importance of friendship...

John 15:12-15
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.



It was my Senior year of highschool, and a group of us stood in a corner of the hallway.
In just a few short days, we would all stand on stage and receive our diplomas.

My long curly haired friend stood holding six little bracelets made of beeds and stretchy rope in her hands.

She handed us each one, as we all looked on intently, tears swelling up within our eyes.

We all placed the bracelets over our hands and around our wrists.

We vowed within that small space in the corner of the hallway to forever be friends joined by one common bond, our love for Christ.

Our smiles lit up that quiet corner.
Time stood still as we clenched our hands together in agreement.

No questions were asked, no doubt spoken.

We knew...
that friends were friends forever if the Lords the Lord of them.


That moment was over two decades ago,
and I can count on one hand how many times I have seen those friends since graduation.

Our lives took roads that didn't necessarily intertwine with one another.

But...
I still have that little beaded bracelet on the stretchy rope.

When I come across it from time to time,
I am reminded of that day and those words and my sweet friends.

I am reminded that He is still Lord of all of us.

I am reminded that we are still friends.

It's not our common grounds that make us friends, or the careers that we have chosen, or the house that we live in, or the way we each parent our children, or the way we speak or live...

it's Him.

He is forever constant in all of us,
because He is that common ground we stand on.

He is that forever Friend.

The perfect Friend.

Our faith does not lie in who we each are, but in who He is.


Too many times,
we put our faith in people.


Then,
when something goes wrong, or we disagree, and hurtful words are spoken,
our worlds come crashing down around us.


We expect perfection from imperfect people.


Sometimes, more often than none...
we expect perfection from ourselves and we allow the disappointment in ourself to keep us from moving forward into a friendship.

This one thing, will stop us from opening up to others and growing in the relationships that God has ordained for us.


Only Jesus gives us never-disappointing, always-fulfilling friendship and support.

I've realized as a woman,
that our worst enemy in friendship is our comparison to one another.
There seems to always be a competition brewing.
Envy and jealousy steal joy from our hearts.
This causes us to give less of ourself than God would have us give.

If we are constantly trying to live up to one of our friends, or act like them, or be who they are,
then we are not being who we are supposed to be, or living out our God destined purpose.


God doesn't want you to be a reflection of your friend or someone else,
He wants you to be You, a reflection of Him.



How boring would it be if we were all the same?
If we spoke the same and reacted the same and had all of the same views and dreams.
It would be like living on a planet of robots...
not living breathing spiritual beings.


We were all created by a perfect Creator in our own perfect way,
bringing our something special and unique into a relationship that needs it.



I want to be comfortable and secure enough in who I am and who I am not,
that I don't hold back on the giving of myself in a friendship.


I want to be that friend who loves at all times,
 encouraging and supporting with my words and my time.


I want to be content in my imperfect relationships...
so that His perfection is all that we see.


I want to be the best friend that I can be,
and leave the rest up to Him.



I found this little list on a blog I read the other day about friendships.
I thought it was appropriate for today's post.

It's a challenge to be a great friend allowing Jesus to shine in and through us.
I am going to do my best to live up to each thing on this list.
I want to take care of those friendships that God has given me, and do it well.

Are you up for it?

A Manifesto for You, Friend

I will be a safe place. I won’t share your confidences.

I will talk about you behind your back, and I will use words that build you up and show you off.

I will defend your reputation rather than contribute to its demise.

I will show humility through encouragement, and do my best to let my actions reflect the way Jesus sees you.

I will allow a united spirit of completion rather than a divisive spirit of competition enter our friendship.

I will pray for you when you ask me to.

I will be accountable and trustworthy ~ my yes is a yes.

I will be for you and not against you, even when what I say may sting a bit.

I will be there to share in both hard and good, to divide the sorrow and double the joy.

I will give your kids extra grace when they are ornery in front of me. And when they are having a moment, the only thought I’ll entertain is it must be your turn for the hard day. Yesterday was mine. And probably tomorrow, too.

I will forgive you when you make a mistake. While I can’t control how you behave towards me, I can control how I behave towards you. And I’ll do my level best to err on the side of grace and love. Because heaven knows I need to receive it as much as I need to give it.

I will bring you chocolate cake, or anything in the chocolate family,  when you are sad or hormonal.

(Okay, that one I added myself.)



If there is something that you would like to add to the list,
please leave it in the comment section below.




God, I thank you for all of the friendships you have allowed me to enjoy, whether they be past, present or future.
Let me see that special gift that each person has and is bringing into my life.
Help me to not hold them responsible for my feelings or worth, for that is a burden not meant for them to bare.
I want to see You and represent Your love in all of my friendships.
May I always be reminded that You alone are the perfect Friend.



Call a friend today and remind them why they are special to you.

Have a blessed day!
.